Downtown hosts the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival, the premiere culinary event of the year, returning to San Diego Nov. 18 to Nov. 22. Now in its sixth year, the festival puts a spotlight on the local culinary scene, which has been making great strides establishing itself nationally in recent years and coming on par with larger cities that are finding America’s Finest City a foodie force to be reckoned with. “We have a really great lineup of chefs,” said festival co-producer Michelle Metter. “The pre-sale tickets are doing really well. Even given the current economy, people are still responding well.” Metter said the event draws about 8,000 guests from around the country and estimated about 30 percent of attendees are from outside San Diego. She credits this to the event’s stellar reputation and focused marketing campaigns across Southern California and Arizona. A highlight of the festival is the vast array of talent that comes out to support the event. San Diego’s culinary celebrities are making repeat appearances at the festival this year, including Emmy Award-winning local chef Sam “The Cooking Guy” Zien. Zien will be teaching a course on holiday brunch to help hosts impress their holiday guests with cinnamon pull-aparts; smoked salmon, dill and goat cheese pizza; spinach mushroom and bacon frittata; peach bellinis and grilled pound cake. “The festival is great; there are so many things to do,” said Zien, who as a staple of the festival has taught cooking classes and served as a judge in the Chef of the Fest competition. Oceanaire Seafood Room’s former head chef Brian Malarkey will host other Bravo network Top Chef alumni in a cooking class. Other not-to-be-missed classes include chef Alex Strata’s fresh pasta course and chef Gary Thompson of Viejas Casino’s totally truffles. From Abundance Vineyards in Lodi to Zenaida Vineyards in Paso Robles, the wine sparkles as the other star of the festival. Literally hundreds of wines from more than 100 winemakers will be showcased during the event. A reserve and new release tasting will be held at the East Village’s WonderHaus building. Master sommelier Joseph Spellman will lead a panel of local wine experts and attendees on a blind tasting, and the W hotel will host a wine rave. The week culminates in a Grand Tasting Event held Nov. 21 at Marina Park North, featuring hundreds of wine and spirit samples, more than 70 local restaurants and San Diego’s top chefs battling it out to be named Chef of the Fest and to win $50,000 in prizes. The following day, the Celebrity Chef Luncheon & AIWF (American Institute of Wine and Food) Big Bottle Live Auction will be held at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina. This event is hosted by celebrity artist Michael Flohr and master sommelier Spellman and features food, wine and a live auction benefiting a scholarship fund for budding culinary and oenology students. The event in years past has helped raise more than $125,000 toward scholarships. Working behind the scenes to coordinate the food for the AIWF luncheon is chef Bernard Guillas of the Marine Room. Guillas has assembled an all-star chef cast including Thierry Rautureau from Rover’s in Seattle, Suzette Gresham from San Francisco’s Acequerello and Kenny Gilbert from Capella in Telluride, Colo. On dessert is local cocoa connoisseur Michael Antonorsi from Chuao Chocolatier. “Bottom line, this is a fantastic week for San Diego,” said Guillas, who will also be signing his brand-new cookbook, “Flying Pans: Two Chefs, One World,” at the Grand Tasting event Saturday. Prices for single-event tickets range from $50 to $75 for classes and $125 to $175 for events. Packages for tickets are the best bet for those wishing to take part in multiple events. Classes take place at the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center, 200 Harbor Drive, and at the Macy’s School of Cooking at Mission Valley Mall. For those looking to make a vacation out of the festival, special “wine weekend” getaway packages are available. These include tickets to events and classes and two nights’ hotel stay at participating properties, including San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, Hilton Bayfront, Hard Rock Hotel, Se San Diego, Omni Hotel and Manchester Grand Hyatt. Visit www.worldofwine events.com for further information and specific prices on events and packages.
